Flicker
by DarkNymfa
Summary: It had taken just one moment, one split-second in which she had seen Phantom instead of Danny. Now she found herself on a path she didn't want to be on. One she couldn't leave, not anymore.


One-shot based on my original idea for the 'moonlight' prompt on Tumblr, which I decided against writing because I wanted the drabble to match with Sunshine. But then the idea refused to leave me alone so I wrote it anyway. Because I have no control over myself or my life, apparently.

Also I've rewritten the summary like three times while working on this, so if it doesn't meet up to your standards: I tried okay.

Constructive criticism and tips and whatever are very welcome! I'm still super new to writing and English is hard sooooo any help is very welcome. Even just saying what you liked and didn't like would help immensely, tbh.

* * *

Maddie sighed, content. For once in her hectic life, she had a moment of peace. A quiet moment shared with her son, whom she saw very little, nowadays.

The two of them were lying side-by-side on a blanket in the park. The sun had set hours ago, and while Danny normally should've been in bed by now… Well, it was vacation. She was allowed to be lenient for once.

Above them, countless stars glittered across the sky. Not a cloud blocked their view, and despite being in the city, the light pollution wasn't bad enough to ruin the view either.

Earlier, the two of them had taken turns identifying the various stars and constellations, but now they just laid back. Enjoyed the moment together.

Maddie allowed her eyes to sag closed, despite the ever-present threat of ghosts attacking them. In the dark, they would be easily spotted due to their glow, and she was sure that Danny would warn her if any showed up.

They laid like that for a long while, Danny watching the stars, Maddie with her eyes closed, enjoying the silence. She might've dozed off for a moment, somewhere along the line. She wasn't quite sure.

Either way, she was awake when she heard Danny shifting next to her, like he was moving to sit upright. Then he released a huge yawn, and she stifled a laugh at her son's expense. The poor boy always looked so exhausted, and she doubted that he had taken a nap beforehand to prevent exactly this.

She opened her eyes to look at her son, who was indeed sitting upright, still watching the stars.

And then she paused, stiffening minutely.

Because the bright moon still hung over them, its light reflecting off of Danny's hair, turning its normal deep black into a peculiar silver-white. Combined with the soft haze hanging around them, which made it look like Danny was glowing…

He suddenly looked eerily like Phantom.

And sure, Danny's t-shirt and jeans were a far cry from Phantom's black jumpsuit. His red sneakers were nothing like Phantom's white boots. And Danny's crystalline blue eyes were _absolutely_ nothing like Phantom's neon green eyes, the human's lively while the ghost could express not even the slightest emotions.

No, Danny was nothing like Phantom.

But, still. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something. That, somehow, her eyes weren't lying to her.

So she sat there in silence, studying her son. Hoping to find a clue, any clue, to solve this new mystery.

Danny didn't notice, and didn't give her any clues, either. He just yawned again, before rubbing in his eyes. He looked absolutely wrecked, and Maddie couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

And then he turned around, flinching slightly when he saw her looking at him. He smiled, sheepishly. "Oh, hey mom. You been up for long?"

"No." She wasn't sure how long she had been watching him, but she was sure that it hadn't been long. "I think we should head home, get some sleep."

"Yeah, probably," Danny agreed, yawning once more. "I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"You should've said no if you were feeling so tired, sweetie." And she should've noticed earlier, too. But she didn't want to say that, and secretly, she was glad that Danny had agreed to come. It had been nice, spending time together. She didn't spend much time with him anymore, these days. She had missed it. Had missed _this_.

Danny nodded, sluggishly, and pushed himself up into a standing position. "Maybe so. But-" He extended a hand to her, and pulled her up. "-it was kind of nice. Hanging out together, you know?"

"Yeah," she allowed, her voice soft. Even with how rebellious of a teenager he was, Danny would always be her boy. Her beloved son.

That night, Maddie dreamt of Danny. A hazy white glow surrounded him as he floated inches above the grass of the park. His eyes were closed, the blue she loved so dearly hidden from her. The light of the moon once more dyed his hair white, more extensively than earlier. Not even the roots appeared black.

He wore a t-shirt, a black one for once. His jeans, too, were black. And so were his sneakers, their well-worn fabric black instead of red.

"Danny," she tried to call to him, but he didn't respond. Didn't stir in the slightest.

"Danny," she called again, more firmly. The floating boy twitched, but Maddie's brief moment of hope was crushed almost instantly when nothing more happened.

Instead she pushed herself up, walking over to her son. She laid a hand on his shoulder-

and pulled it back almost instantly, flinching away from how _cold_ he was.

But it had been enough to draw Danny's attention, because he turned to face her. And then, slowly but surely, his eyes opened.

And Maddie found herself looking right into bright, vivid _green_.

She backed away even further, but the boy in front of her stared blankly. Unseeing. Unblinking.

It was… She wasn't sure who- _what_ he was.

Because the boy floating there… She could've sworn that this was _Danny_. _Her_ Danny.

But the ectoplasmic green eyes, the white hair, the black-and-white clothing… All of that was Phantom.

And, sure. She had seen the similarities between the two boys before. Who hadn't?

This went beyond similarities, however. Because the lines had been blurred, all of a sudden. And she couldn't tell apart the features anymore, couldn't say which ones were Danny's and which ones where Phantom's.

The ghost- boy- _horrid mixture that shouldn't exist_ – continued to stare at her. And then he blinked, once, unbelievably slowly. His eyes remained closed for what felt like an eternity, seconds dragged out into hours.

And then when he opened them again, the green had receded. A ring of it still surrounded the pupils, and small sparks of it were scattered around the rest of the iris as well. But the irises were mostly blue, now. Blue like the skies, like- like _Danny_.

It pained her, to see her son and her greatest enemy mixed together in such a manner. It pained her in ways she couldn't describe, to be unable to tell the two of them apart.

The boy, still staring blankly, blinked once more. He faded out of sight before his eyes opened again, however. The light of the moon soon followed, and Maddie could see nothing more.

The dream didn't end there, much to Maddie's displeasure. Instead, it pulled her further back, into her memories. Scenes for the past years, sometimes even more distant, flitted through.

None of them were quite right.

A moment from the past year, when she walked into Danny's room to find him gaming with Sam and Tucker. He turned to her, a grin on his face and his eyes scrunched with joy. The glowing green of his irises cast strange lights on his cheeks, on the tips of his snow-white hair.

The scene faded away, replaced by another. It was from the first ghost invasion, in the city hall. She had a bazooka aimed right at Phantom's face, his smirk falling as he saw her. His sky-blue eyes widened in fear, his spiky black hair failing to cover the fake emotion shown on his face.

The four of them sitting in the lab. Jack was explaining his newest invention to Jazz, but Danny had clearly stopped listening several minutes ago. His ectoplasm-green eyes drooped closed, and Maddie smiled at the sight of him. So young and innocent still. She playfully ruffled his white hair, chuckling when he startled awake.

Danny, sitting at the kitchen table, spooning away his breakfast. His white hair hung down, hiding his green eyes from sight. Jack grabbed the machine she had been working on, activating it with a flourish. "Ghost straight ahead," it exclaimed, as everyone looked at Danny. Fearful green eyes looked back.

Phantom, trapped in a net. Not one of theirs, unfortunately, but one belonging to another ghost. The robotic ghost hovered over their shared prey, gloating at the boy. The crystalline blue eyes that stared back were filled with a mixture of fear and hatred. When Maddie and Jack finally got the ghost away from Phantom, the net had been empty.

Her and Danny, sitting on the roof together. The sign had been turned off for once, allowing them to see the stars with a clarity rarely found in the city. Danny's green eyes sparkled with life, glowing bright with joy.

The ghost, kneeling on the ground, but looking up at her with a scornful expression. His blue eyes looked dead, lacking the true fire of anger. His black hair was windswept and messy. He clutched one of his arms, where she had successfully landed a shot, earlier. It must've healed already, since no fluids leaked from the injury.

An imagined moment, no true memory, but a scene she had thought over and had cherished many times regardless. Her son, standing tall, a goofy smile on his face. Standing opposite of him was a nondescript girl, hair dark but gown white. Danny was the exact opposite, his hair white like her dress, but his suit as black as her hair. The stones of their rings glimmered green like his eyes.

The next memory was, once again, not a real one. Unlike the almost hazy nature of the last one, this scene played in vivid detail. She and Jack were in the lab, Phantom tied onto an examination table. His blue eyes were blank, unblinking and dry. His clothes had been removed hours ago, to give them easier access to the body. So they could tear him open and inspect the unexpected organs. Red had been splattered everywhere, still wet where it had pooled around the table.

Maddie shot up, the images of the last scene of her dream continuing to haunt her. She gasped for a few moments, struggling to catch her breath. Then she glanced over at Jack, making sure she hadn't woken him up.

The dream, the _entire_ dream, still lingered. From its very first moments, it had shown her… _something_. She wasn't sure what, but she certainly didn't like it.

It was like the moment in the park earlier that night had triggered something, had led her onto a path she didn't want to be on. And now she couldn't leave it, not anymore.

Because that moment, the short moment of confusion, where she could've sworn that Danny looked exactly like Phantom… It had thrown off everything she knew, had irreversibly mixed the two boys together. And she couldn't separate them anymore. Not their appearances, nor her reactions to them.

She imagined a boy with white hair and glowing green eyes, a soft glow hazing around him and his black jumpsuit, and she felt motherly pride. A need to protect him, too, to chastise him for endangering himself so much.

And then she imagined a boy with black hair and sky-blue eyes, with his white shirt and blue jeans, and she felt hatred. Anger at him for lying to her, for the damages he caused to the town and to their family.

She groaned, fed up and angry and _tired_. She had just wanted to spend a little more time with her son, get closer to him again. Instead, this whole mess had happened.

And now… Now she couldn't think of him without seeing Phantom, and vice versa.

She didn't think that she could go back to sleep anymore. Luckily, a glance at the clock revealed that it wasn't _too_ early. Quietly, making sure not to wake Jack, she got dressed. Then she crept down the stairs, starting on breakfast.

Not much later, Jazz joined her in the kitchen. After a worried glance at the breakfast she seemed satisfied, and settled down at the table to wait for it to be done. They didn't share any conversation, which Maddie was glad for. She wasn't sure if she was ready to talk, not with her thoughts still stuck on her dream.

Soon, Jack's heavy steps sounded as well, as he joined them in the kitchen. Apparently his thunderous noise had woken Danny as well, because she could hear him scuffling around upstairs.

She hadn't heard him come down the stairs. But when she turned around, she was greeted by the sight of all three of them sitting at the table. Her daughter, her husband, and… and Danny. Black-haired and blue-eyed. Like he should be, right?

Seeing her looking at him, he smiled at her. "Hey mom, good morning!"

Maddie tried to smile back, but it was shaky. Wavering. She was sure that he noticed, but she turned away too quickly to tell. She didn't want to see the hurt expression on her sons face. Didn't want to look at him and see her enemy.

Instead, she finished up the last of the pancakes. After serving them up with a flourish, the four of them ate in near silence.

Both of her children kept shooting her worried looks, but she ignored them. She had expected Jazz to have noticed, of course. The girl was sharp and had a keen mind. She hadn't expected Danny to notice. Hadn't expected him to care, had accidentally based her expectations on the combined worst traits of her son and Phantom.

Somehow, this needed to end. She couldn't _live_ like this. Seeing Phantom in Danny, in _her son._ And she was certain that the reverse would also be true. That visions of her son would prevent her from doing her job, that it would endanger the people of Amity Park.

No, she had to stop this. Somehow. Had to relearn the differences between the two boys. No matter how similar they were.

The rest of breakfast wasn't any better. Between the worried glances of Jazz and Danny (which, on occasion, they shared, a silent conversation she had no hopes of understanding) and Jack's usual obliviousness, it hadn't looked too promising.

And then she started seeing Phantom instead of Danny.

Only for short bursts of time, in-between blinks or glances. Sometimes it was a complete replacement, but most of the time it was not.

Those moments, she thought, were the worst. Because she would catch Danny shooting her a concerned but caring look. But the eyes looking at her would be _green_.

Once the ordeal was over, she quickly excused herself. Rushed down to the lab, her safe sanctuary. A place where neither of the boys would ever come. Because, sure, _technically_ her son was supposed to clean the lab as part of his chores. But she knew darn well that he hardly ever did so. And never while his parents were home.

Jack soon joined her, of course. But he was contend to stay to himself, tinkering on some invention of his. A new version of the Ghost Gabber, maybe?

Either way, he left her to her own devices, for which she was grateful. She turned her attention to the computer in the lab, going through Phantom's file to collect all data and photos they had of him. It wasn't much, as the ghost was surprisingly elusive, and rarely held still long enough for pictures. That, and ghosts were difficult to photograph due their ever-present glow. The photos were collected together and then printed, as she sorted them in a rough chronological order.

Then she realized that she couldn't compare Phantom's photos to Danny's in the lab. Even if Jack was pretty oblivious, the chance of him noticing was too large. She wasn't sure how to explain this. To explain her current train of thought. Her intentions.

Hell, she didn't even _know_ her own intentions.

So instead she grabbed the file and the stack of photos, and went upstairs. She dumped both items in the master bedroom. Then she collected some family photo albums as well, making sure to pick more recent ones. Ones that lined up with the time frame in which Phantom first started appearing.

Finally settling down on the bed, Maddie looked at the vast amount of pictures in front of her. Phantom's file, she put aside for the moment. She already knew that nothing in it would help her with this. Quite honestly, she wasn't sure why she had printed it in the first place. Her interest laid with the photos. It was the visuals, after all, that kept messing her up.

It was the appearances that she couldn't tell apart. Not anymore.

So she spread out Phantom's photos. Laid them in a neat little line. The first ones were shaky, the ghost barely visible. As time went on, more and better pictures started to surface. People felt increasingly confident in sticking around to capture the ghost on film.

When she was done, the photos laid in perfect chronological order. And every one depicted Phantom as she knew him, had always known him. Snow-white hair, glowing ectoplasm-green eyes. Black jumpsuit, white gloves and boots. A cocky smirk on his face, almost always. Occasionally a hint of anger or fear, a bad attempt at replicating the genuine article.

The photos had been dated, in the process. She had written down the exact days, if she remembered. If not, the right week or month. Always the year.

First step of the task thus finished, she grabbed the albums. Leaved through them carefully, slowly. Picked photos of Danny, as close as possible to the dates of Phantom's photos.

Then she laid them out in a line, underneath Phantom's. Matching every photo of the ghost with one of her son's from the same time. Some were a little off, especially as time went on. Danny shying away from his family had made it so that he appeared less and less in the albums. Most of the photos she had of him were taken by his friends instead of them. She hadn't realized how bad it had been. Not until now.

Either way, she had managed to match Danny's photos to Phantom's. The row of cocky white-haired ghosts were matched, one-for-one, by photos of the black-haired blue-eyed human, almost always smiling fondly. The two couldn't look more different, but still.

Still, they looked exactly the same.

A simple color swap in her mind was enough. A photo of Phantom, but imagined with his hair black and eyes blue, was an exact match for Danny. Even the smirk she hated so much on the ghost, was one she found endearing on Danny. Because it was the cocky smirk he wore when he won in a game, when he outsmarted his sister.

And the reverse was also true. A picture of Danny, but with his hair white and eyes green, was suddenly a perfect mirror of Phantom. The smile one she imagined him wearing as people complimented him, called him a hero. As he succeeded in tricking the town.

It hadn't worked. She still couldn't tell the two apart. Somehow, her brain had decided the two looked identical. Either that, or they were perfect mirror images of each other.

But, surely that couldn't be the case? If they really looked so similar, _surely_ someone would've noticed sooner?

Surely _she_ would've noticed sooner? If a ghost she hunted so much looked near-identical to her son, her own flesh and blood?

It didn't make sense. Even ignoring the fact that someone should've ( _would have_ ) noticed sooner, it wasn't possible. The ghost couldn't look identical to her son, not so consitently.

Because her son was a teenager. Over the past few years, since Phantom's first appearance, _Danny_ had changed. He had grown, gotten taller and slightly more muscular. His features were getting sharper.

And as a ghost, Phantom couldn't have done so. Because ghosts can't change so subtly. Even the few among them that change at all only ever change due to a change in power. And _that_ is sudden, and glaringly obvious. Yet in every picture she had, Phantom had never gone through any major changes.

But when she grabbed the first somewhat clear photo of him, and the latest photo of him… She couldn't deny the evidence.

Phantom, just like her son, just like every other teenager… He had grown up. He appeared taller, proportioned more like an adult. He had lost that rounded appearance. Looked like a 16 year old, just like her son, rather than the 14 year old he had been when he had first appeared.

It was unheard of. Completely baffling. And she only had one explanation.

Her inability to tell the two apart was causing it. Because if Phantom and Danny were the same, then either _both_ were growing up, or _neither_ were.

She couldn't do this alone. The problem she was trying to solve prevented her from solving it. It was a perfect cycle, and one she couldn't leave now that she had entered it. A vicious tailspin she couldn't recover from. She needed someone else to help her, someone who wouldn't judge her. Who wouldn't question her if she asked not to.

Jazz came to mind. It might be weird, to go to her daughter for help, especially for something like this. But Jazz wouldn't judge. She would listen, and she would help.

But Maddie had to start off easy. She couldn't just… She didn't think she could explain these thoughts. So she had to ease into the conversation.

She clenched her fist, immediately relaxing it again when she heard the crinkling of paper. Suddenly remembered that she was still holding the photos of Phantom.

Oh. The photos. That would be a perfect way to start. She could ask Jazz to look at them, to compare them. And if Jazz didn't see it… She could use that as a stepping point.

Yes, that could work. Would work. _Had_ _to_ work.

With the two photos of Phantom in her hand, Maddie knocked on the door to Jazz' room. It only took a few moments for the girl to answer, to tell her to come in.

Maddie shuffled in, uncertain. She was having second thoughts- but she had to do this. One way or another, this need to end.

"Mom?" Jazz asked, her voice quiet and her expression uncertain, confused.

"Hey sweetie," she answered, raising her hand with the pictures in it for Jazz to see. "I was wondering if you could… help me with something?"

"Of course." Jazz cleared a spot on her desk, moving aside so she and Maddie could both stand in front of it. "What do you need?"

Maddie put the pictures down, laying them side-by-side. Phantom's cocky smirk taunted her, his face young in one and grown up on the other. "Could you… look at these pictures for me, please?"

"Sure..." Jazz frowned, however. She seemed hesitant, for some reason. "Why, though? And why me, instead of dad?"

Maddie scoffed. "We both know that your dad… isn't very observant. And this isn't something that requires ghostly knowledge."

"So then what do you need me to do? What were _you_ doing in the first place?" The frown was still on Jazz' face, her expression puzzled.

"I was just… comparing these two pictures of Phantom. These were taken almost two years apart, so I was wondering if Phantom had changed in that time." She didn't say anything about her suspicions. About what _she_ saw in these pictures. Didn't want to alter Jazz' answer. No, she needed the truth, no matter how much she wouldn't like it.

"Oh," Jazz simply said, frown lessening. "And you needed a second opinion, then? Sure, I can do that." She cast her eyes over the photos, pouring over the details. It was another reason why Maddie had chosen Jazz for this. Her observational skills were top-notch.

"He looks… younger… in this photo."

Maddie felt her breath catch as Jazz uttered the words. They had been quiet, almost mumbled. But Maddie had heard, regardless.

It confirmed what she had seen. But she had been certain that it had been her imagination. There was no other explanation, no _reason_ why Phantom would appear older now.

But if Jazz saw it… Then she hadn't imagined it.

And if _this_ was real… What else had been true? How much else had she denied, refused to believe?

"That's what I thought as well," she managed to mutter. Jazz glanced at her, perplexed, but didn't say anything. "Thanks, sweetie." And Maddie kissed her daughter on her forehead, grabbed the pictures, and left.

Back in her room, she stopped to look at the pictures again.

If she was right about Phantom growing up… Was she right about his similarities with Danny as well? Were the two boys perfect copies of each other, barring their hair and eye colors?

And if so… What did that mean? Was there any link between their shared appearance, and the fact that they were growing up in perfect sync?

Was there a link between Danny and Phantom?

And, if yes… What did it _mean_? For Danny? For Phantom? Was it voluntarily engaged by the two of them? Had Phantom somehow forced himself upon Danny?

Was this why Danny was always so tired? So easily distracted? Was Phantom somehow draining him, using him as a link to the human world?

And… Was this why ghost detection equipment always went off around Danny? Was the link somehow contaminating him with Phantom's ectoplasm, his ecto-signature?

She had to talk to him. She wasn't sure what she was going to say, but it had to happen. As soon as possible. She needed answers, and she was going to get them. Not to help herself, but for Danny. Because, if this was hurting him… Then it was their fault – _her_ fault – for not noticing sooner.

In the end, Maddie had been forced to wait until late in the evening to talk with Danny. Apparently he had left the house to hang with Sam and Tucker while she had been… making discoveries, and he didn't return home until after dinner.

Either way, she now found herself hesitating in front of his door. She could hear him in his room, the clicking of his fingers on a keyboard.

She took a deep breath, summoned up all her bravery, squared her shoulders. And then she knocked.

"Come in!"

And so she did. Danny was sitting at his desk, but looked away from his computer when she came in.

"Hey mom, what's up?" He quirked an eyebrow at her. His eyes, big and sky-blue, showed clearly his confusion. _God_ , he looked so innocent. Surely she had been wrong about this all? Surely this boy, her _son_ , couldn't have any sort of connection with Phantom?

But she had come so far already. Had let her doubts build up so far that she couldn't see past them anymore. And, if this was real, and it was hurting Danny, she couldn't afford to ignore it. She had to know.

"I was hoping we could… talk?" Her voice wavered, unsure. Danny, in turn, looked confused by the request. And was that fear, sparking in his eyes? Surely not?

"Uh, sure, I guess?" He shrugged, but it was halfhearted. A cover-up for an emotion she didn't catch. "What about?"

Maddie looked away from him, closing the door behind her. No matter how this conversation would go… She didn't want anyone to overhear it.

Apparently her silence had lasted too long, however, because Danny's brow creased into a frown. "Mom, what did you want to talk about?" He sounded impatient, a hint of sternness she didn't associate with Danny. That didn't fit with the meek boy she had as a son.

She shook off the thoughts to focus on the conversation. If she could just get through this, she would have all the answers she needed.

"I… I wanted to talk with you about..." she trailed off, considering her options. Finally, she settled on one. "I wanted to talk with you about last night."

"Last night?" Danny repeated, frown deepening. "What about it?"

"I saw something last night. Something that made me think." She loosely crossed her arms, gripping her upper arms. She let the silence linger for a few moments, before she finally added, "Something about you."

"Me?" Danny questioned, incredulously. His expression was almost comical, a perfect depiction of surprise. He couldn't hide the calculation and suspicion in his eyes, however. Not from her.

"Yes, Danny." She sighed, sitting down on his bed. "And I can't- can't stop thinking about it. And I need to know. I need to know if there's even the slightest bit of truth to it."

Danny didn't answer. Maddie sighed again, closing her eyes and rubbing them with her hands. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I know I must- must sound like I'm going crazy. I'm just… I'm just worried about you."

Still, no answer, except for a creak from Danny's chair. Then, suddenly, the bed dipped down as a weight landed next to her.

"What's wrong, mom? What did you see that made you worry about me?"

"Oh, Danny," she sniffed. "I'm always worried about you, sweetie. You always look so tired, and your grades at school have been terrible for the past two years." She looked away, uncertain. She knew she had to bring it up at some point, but she was afraid. Afraid of how he would react.

Afraid of being right.

"But..." He paused, as if considering his options. "You saw something last night, something that made you even more worried."

"Yes," she confirmed. Then, more quietly, she elaborated. "Phantom."

She felt Danny stiffen next to her. Almost immediately after, he relaxed again. He chuckled, quietly. "Phantom? How would you have seen him when I didn't?"

"Because I didn't see him. Not really." She turned back to see Danny frowning at her. "But I saw something that reminded me of him."

"But what does that have to do with me?" He narrowed his eyes even further, hands loosely balled.

"I don't know." She sighed. "But I intend to find out. There's something about the two of you. And I need to know, Danny. I need to know _what_."

He scoffed, turning away. "There's _nothing_ , mom. He's a ghost haunting this city, and I'm your _son_." He stood up, started to walk away from her.

She grabbed his hand, surprising both of them.

Danny pulled his hand free with suspicious ease, like cold wisping through her fingers, drew it to his chest. In the same moment he whirled around, eyes blown wide.

Bright green blinked at her for a short moment, immediately replaced with icy blue again.

"Danny?" she breathed, looking at her son. She knew he wasn't overshadowed. An overshadowing ghost couldn't hide its eyes, not for this long.

He looked panicked, breathing faster and faster. He started backing away from her, one hand wrapped around the other. Both still clutched to his chest.

"Danny," she repeated, firmer. She tried to keep her voice calm, despite her own roiling emotions. In the hopes of calming him down, she spread out her hands, raised them in the air. The universal sign of 'I'm unarmed and intend no harm'.

"I- I can. I can explain," he stuttered, hitting the desk with a flinch. He had backed up as far as he could go.

"It's okay," Maddie tried to soothe. "I just want to know… Is this… Is it hurting you?"

"What?" he asked, eyeing her with barely veiled suspicion. His sky-blue eyes were darting around the room, but they never left her for longer than a millisecond. "What do you mean?"

" _This,_ " she repeated, emphasizing the word. "Is it hurting you? This link, this connection with Phantom? Is _he_ hurting you?"

"No." He straightened up, a defiant look in his eyes. "No, nothing like that."

"Then explain it to me," she begged him, laying her hands in her lap.

He sighed, looking down at the ground. Lifted his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it in a motion so familiar to her. Something so characteristic to him.

"It's… hard to explain," he said, finally.

"Please, Danny. _Try_. I have to know. I _need_ to know that you're okay. Please, sweetie."

He dropped the hand again, and then collapsed into the desk chair. "I'll… try. But this is the first time I've had to explain. Like, _really_ explain."

"You've… told someone about this before?" She didn't want to sound as hurt as she felt, but she didn't think she succeeded in stomping down the hurt tone completely. Someone else knew, at least partially? And they didn't tell her?

He shrugged, glancing at her, but looked away almost instantly. "Sort of. Sam and Tucker knew from the start. And Jazz kind of… figured it out on her own."

"And no one told me?" This time she didn't even try to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"I… didn't want them to." He shifted, uncertainly. Glanced around the room, as if trying to avoid looking at her while simultaneously refusing to let her out of sight. "I was… I was afraid. Of how you and dad might react."

"Oh," she said, quietly. Because she could imagine that, much to her dislike. She and Jack ( _especially_ Jack) tended to be a little… _overenthusiastic_ about ghosts. And if something happened to Danny, something involving ghosts… Yes, she could definitely imagine him being worried and scared about how they might react.

"Yeah," Danny mumbled, rubbing his arms. "Sorry."

"No, Danny." She pushed herself upright, intending to walk over to him to comfort him. He flinched, however, and she stopped. "Danny, you don't have to be sorry. _We_ were the ones that scared _you_. _We_ were so obsessed that you thought you couldn't tell us about this. Whatever _this_ is."

She sighed. "Danny. I promise you, whatever happened to you, whatever it is that links you and Phantom… I promise that I won't get mad, that I- _we_ won't hurt you. Okay? We love you. And I just… want to make sure you're okay."

He nodded, but didn't speak. The silence lingered for what felt like an eternity.

"There's no link. No _connection_ , between me and Phantom."

"Danny-" she started to retort, but he held up a hand.

"No, let me finish. There is no connection, because there is no difference. You're working off of the assumption that Phantom and I are different people." He straightened himself out, pushing out of his chair. Looked her right in the eyes, green ebbing into his irises, washing away the blue. "But we're not. _I_ am not."

"I don't- I don't understand." She looked at him, scrutinized him. Tried to decipher which of the two she was looking at. Saw bits and pieces of both Phantom and Danny. She let herself fall back onto the bed, sitting down with a thump.

"Sorry, I'm not… very good at explaining this." He shuffled his feet for a moment, the green departing as quickly as it had come. "Would it help if I told you… how it happened?"

"Yes," she said, as certain as she could. If she knew what happened, she might be able to figure out what it _meant_. How to undo it, if necessary.

"Right." He nodded, took a deep breath. "So two years ago, I had that little accident with the Portal. Remember that?"

She thought about it for a moment. Yes, she remembered. She and Jack had been away, after the Portal had failed to activate. When they returned home, the Portal was turned on and fully functional. Danny and his friends had told them that it had turned on while they were in the lab, and that Danny had gotten a small shock from it.

Suddenly she doubted that _that_ was what had happened that day.

And Danny must've been able to tell, because he nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I uh. Sort of was inside it when it turned on?"

"Daniel!" she gasped, looking at him with wide eyes. The Portal ran off of enormous amounts of ectoplasm and electricity. It should have killed him!

Should have killed him. Phantom was a ghost. Danny and Phantom were the same.

Phantom was Danny's ghost. He could just alter his appearance to look more human.

"I'm okay!" he squawked, raising his hands. "Well, mostly. Half, kinda."

"Danny, you're a ghost!" she chided, ignoring his wide-eyed wince. "You're _not_ okay!"

"Only half!" he exclaimed, wincing once more when he realized how loud he was. How loud both of them were. "I'm only half ghost." he added, at a lower volume.

She stared at him. He had to be kidding, right? There was no such thing as a half ghost. It wasn't possible. Just a lie he told himself, and his friends and his sister, because he was worried. Afraid.

But, she had to admit, some things about him didn't make sense. A ghost wasn't capable of the slow growth that Danny and Phantom were both showing. A real ghost couldn't completely hide their ghostly traits, no matter how convincing their human guise was.

A real ghost couldn't go through ghost shields, something she had witnessed Danny do on multiple occasions.

And… a real ghost didn't bleed. But she had seen him bleed in the last two years. Had seen him come home bruised red and blue. A ghost wouldn't have been able to fake that, would have shown its bruises in shades of green.

"Okay," she said, quietly. Then, more certain, again. "Okay."

"Okay?" Danny repeated from where he was still standing, clearly more hesitant, uncertain. Hope flickered in his wide eyes.

"I believe you." Maddie combed her hand through her hair, mussing it up. "I don't _understand_ it, but I believe you regardless."

"Yeah, I don't really understand it either," Danny admitted, laughing a little as the tension drained from him. "But you're… okay with it?"

"With you being a half ghost, somehow? Yes." She turned a stern glare on him. "With you going out hunting dangerous ghosts, all alone, all day long? No."

"I wasn't alone!" he shouted, before immediately slapping his hands over his mouth. Then he continued at a quieter volume, again. "Sam and Tucker are usually there. Jazz comes too, sometimes. Besides, most ghosts aren't all that dangerous to me, not anymore."

"So they once were?" She quirked a brow at him, and Danny smiled sheepishly. "Either way, we'll need to… figure this out, somehow. I'm not letting you go out there alone, not without supervision."

He hummed, nodding. "I… guess that that's fair. And it would be nice to have some more backup, sometimes."

Then, suddenly, he jumped up again, eyes wide. "You haven't seen it yet. Do you want to see?"

"See what?" She frowned, confused.

"The transformation! I forgot you hadn't seen it, since it's usually the thing that reveals my secret in the first place."

She paused, her thoughts grinding to a halt. She knew, logically, that he had to somehow shift from Danny to Phantom. But she hadn't thought about the repercussions, about the actual transformation that it would involve.

"Yes… I would like to see that."

He walked over to the center of his room, standing straight. Clenched his fists. Then hesitated for a moment, glancing at her.

"It, uh. It might be kinda bright, or so the others say."

"Thanks for the warning, sweetie." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

Then, suddenly, in a flash, a bright ring appeared around his waist. It hung there, motionless, for a moment. Then it split, two halos moving across his body in opposite directions. Everywhere they passed, Danny's clothes were replaced by an oh-so familiar black jumpsuit. White gloves appeared, and the same went for the boots that appeared when the bottom ring faded away, having reached the end of Danny's body. The top ring passed his closed eyes, dyeing his black hair white, and then dissipated as well.

Finally, Danny opened his eyes. Glowing green blinked back at her, hesitant but with a spark of hope.

She wondered, briefly, how she had never recognized him. How she had never seen the life in those eyes.

"Tah-dah?" he tried, throwing his hands out theatrically. His voice carried the same tinny echo as Phantom's always did, but she could still tell that underneath that, he sounded just like always. How had no one realized this before? Was it willful blindness? A stubborn refusal to see the resemblance between a ghost and a living boy?

She realized that she had been silent too long when his expression started to drop. That she had been too occupied with her thoughts to reaffirm him.

"I can't believe I never noticed before," she whispered, quietly berating herself. Then she stood up and crossed the distance between them with a few large steps.

Danny flinched, rising a few inches off of the floor. He looked about ready to bolt. Like he was expecting her to strike him, to berate him. To hurt him. Like she had hurt Phantom before.

Instead she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him against herself. He stiffened momentarily, before melting against her, laying his head on her shoulder.

He was cold to the touch, and she was suddenly reminded of the boy she had seen in her dreams. The fused representation of her son that had sparked this whole chase. Because, even if the first hint had been in the park, she knew she would have ignored it otherwise, without that dream.

"I love you, sweetie," she mumbled into Danny's hair. The white hairs wisped around slightly, as if stirred by a non-existent wind.

"I love you too, mom," came the answer, and she smiled.

Everything would be alright. Danny was okay, and he was going to be even better now. With her help, and Jack's. She would make sure of that.


End file.
